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Activist Hedge Funds Top Performers in February says eVestment
After a tough 2016, hedge funds start off 2017 with strong performances almost across the board.
Activist hedge funds ruled the hedge fund universe in February with an industry-leading +2.53% performance for the month, bringing year-to-date returns for activist funds to +3.03%, according to the just-released eVestment February 2017 Hedge Fund Industry Performance Report.
The industry as a whole had aggregate February returns of +1.08%, which marked the third consecutive month in which more than 70% of hedge funds saw positive returns. Following investor redemptions of $106 billion in 2016 and heightened investor and media scrutiny, 2017 is starting off on a very positive note for the industry.
Some other interesting data from the report, according to eVestment Vice President of Research and report author Peter Laurelli, include:
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- Managed futures funds, which saw a barely positive +0.58% return in 2016, were among the strongest performers in February, racking up +1.32% returns. The largest managed futures funds performed even more strongly, with funds larger than $1 billion returning +2.76% in February and the 10 largest managed futures funds returning +3.36% for the month.
- Quantitative directional equity funds were also strong performers in February, at +1.65%, bringing their year-to-date returns to +2.41%.
- Emerging market focused funds returned +2.05% in February, bringing year-to-date returns to +4.65%, compared to developed market focused funds, which saw returns of +1.01% in February and +2.30% year-to-date.
- Funds focused on India and Brazil were among the best performing country-focused funds, returning +4.87% and +4.58% respectively. However, Russia-focused funds, having returned +30.23% in 2016, are having a slower go of it so far this year, returning -0.97% in February and squeaking by with a barely positive +1.03% return year-to-date.
- Commodity funds were the lone major-category decliner in February, returning -0.50% for the month, bringing year-to-date returns to +0.07%.
To download a full copy of the report, please click here.